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HTC One M9 Smartphone Review

Nice soundbox. HTC tries to keep old strengths with the One M9 and does not really change the design of its flagship smartphone. The speakers still create a very good sound, but the latest version once again reveals problems in respect of the reworked camera. The battery runtimes could be longer as well.

For the original German review, see here.

The HTC One M9 is the successor of the One M8. Thanks to the new Snapdragon 810, the smartphone wants to reclaim the performance crown. The operating system is now Google’s Android 5.0 Lollipop, which has a 64-bit architecture. HTC wants to use this with the integration of 3 GB memory. The latest communication modules are available as well, so the One M9 is a modern high-end smartphone in a very noble aluminum chassis. The manufacturer also increased the price and the RRP is now at 749 Euros (~$839).

There are numerous and well-known competitors, including the Samsung Galaxy S5, which will soon be replaced by the S6 and S6 Edge, as well as the Sony Xperia Z3LG G3Nexus 6Motorola Moto XHuawei Ascend P7OnePlus OneNokia Lumia 930 and Apple iPhone 6.

HTC One M9 (One Series)
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 MSM8994 8 x 2 GHz, Cortex-A57/-A53
Graphics adapter
Qualcomm Adreno 430, Core: 650 MHz
Memory
3 GB 
Display
5.00 inch 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixel, Capacitive, 10-point multitouch, Super LCD 3, glossy: yes
Storage
32 GB eMMC Flash, 32 GB 
, eMMC 5.0, 21.04 GB free
Connections
1 USB 2.0, Audio Connections: Combined headphone/microphone jack, Card Reader: MicroSD up to 2TB, Sensors: Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Orientation sensor and G-sensor, Digital compass, Sensor hub, GPS, Glonass, NFC, OTG, MHL 3.0, DLNA, Infrarot, Miracast
Networking
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (a/b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/ac = Wi-Fi 5/), Bluetooth 4.1, GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz), UMTS/HSPA+ (850, 900, 1900 and 2100 MHz), LTE Cat. 6 (700, 800, 850, 900, 1800, 2100 and 2600 MHz)
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 9.61 x 144.6 x 69.7 ( = 0.38 x 5.69 x 2.74 in)
Battery
Lithium-Polymer, 2840 mAh, Talk time 2G (according to manufacturer): 25.4 h, Talk time 3G (according to manufacturer): 21.7 h, Standby 2G (according to manufacturer): 391 h, Standby 3G (according to manufacturer): 402 h
Operating System
Android 5.0 Lollipop
Camera
Webcam: 4.0 MP HTC UltraPixel, Main camera: 20 MP (autofocus, f/2.2, UHD video)
Additional features
Speakers: Two stereo speakers with Dolby audio, Keyboard: Virtual, Power supply, data cable, headphones, HTC Help, HTC Club, Polaris Office 5, Cloudex, fx Image Editing, HTC Dot View, HTC Backup, 24 Months Warranty
Weight
157 g ( = 5.54 oz / 0.35 pounds), Power Supply: 56 g ( = 1.98 oz / 0.12 pounds)
Price
749 Euro
Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

 

Case

HTC only changed small details for the chassis of the One M9. The smartphone is slightly thicker now, but it is slimmer at the edges in return. The silver version is also available with a golden edge, but you also get completely golden, pink and dark gray models. Because of the curved back, the review unit feels nice in the hand, but the edges are a bit hard.

The stability of the aluminum chassis is flawless. Neither attempts to twist the smartphone nor pressure can affect the One M9. The IPX3 certification ensures sufficient protection against light to medium rain.

The gaps are very even. A small issue is that the slots for the nano-SIM card and the microSD are not perfectly flush with the rest of the chassis. The battery is integrated and cannot be removed without the corresponding expert knowledge.

159 mm / 6.26 inch 83 mm / 3.27 inch 10 mm / 0.3937 inch 184 g0.4057 lbs152.9 mm / 6.02 inch 75.9 mm / 2.99 inch 8.9 mm / 0.3504 inch 164 g0.3616 lbs146.36 mm / 5.76 inch 70.6 mm / 2.78 inch 9.35 mm / 0.3681 inch 160 g0.3527 lbs146.3 mm / 5.76 inch 74.6 mm / 2.94 inch 8.95 mm / 0.3524 inch 149 g0.3285 lbs144.6 mm / 5.69 inch 69.7 mm / 2.74 inch 9.61 mm / 0.3783 inch 157 g0.3461 lbs146.5 mm / 5.77 inch 72 mm / 2.83 inch 7.3 mm / 0.2874 inch 152 g0.3351 lbs140.8 mm / 5.54 inch 72.4 mm / 2.85 inch 9.9 mm / 0.3898 inch 145 g0.3197 lbs142 mm / 5.59 inch 72.5 mm / 2.85 inch 8.1 mm / 0.3189 inch 145 g0.3197 lbs137 mm / 5.39 inch 71 mm / 2.8 inch 9.8 mm / 0.3858 inch 170 g0.3748 lbs139.8 mm / 5.5 inch 68.8 mm / 2.71 inch 6.5 mm / 0.2559 inch 124 g0.2734 lbs138.1 mm / 5.44 inch 67 mm / 2.64 inch 6.9 mm / 0.2717 inch 129 g0.2844 lbs148 mm / 5.83 inch 105 mm / 4.13 inch 1 mm / 0.03937 inch 1.5 g0.00331 lbs

Connectivity

The micro USB 2.0 port of the HTC One M9 can be used to charge the smartphone and also for file transfers with a computer. It also supports OTG and MHL 3.0, so not only can you attach external input devices as well as memory sticks, but the interface can also be used to transfer video data in Ultra HD. Wireless video signals can be transmitted via HTC Connect, Miracast and DLNA.

The microSD slot is supposed to support cards with a size of up to 2 TB. This is the current theoretical maximum of the SDXC standard, but you can only buy cards with up to 256 GB right now.

An Infrared transmitter is once again included as well, so you can control your home entertainment system.

Top: Infrared
Top: Infrared
Left: Nano-SIM slot
Left: Nano-SIM slot
Bottom: Stereo jack, USB
Bottom: Stereo jack, USB
Right: MicroSD, volume rocker, power
Right: MicroSD, volume rocker, power

Software

The operating system of the HTC One M9 is Google Android 5.0.2 Lollipop, which is the most recent version at the time of writing. The manufacturer also added its own user interface (UI) HTC Sense 7, but the design is very similar to the predecessor and you only get some new elements of the material design. The interface is very clean and simple. Besides some HTC apps, which are usable after you use an HTC account, there is just one third-party app with Polaris Office 5. HTC itself offers its Club app, a backup function as well as the familiar Zoe app. A new feature is that the shown apps on the home screen are adjusted to the situation, so you see different apps at home, on the road or at the office.

The data from your old smartphone can be transferred comfortably.
Home screen
Phone app
A children mode is available as well.
App Drawer
You can choose between different settings.
It is comfortable to manage opened apps.

Communication & GPS

The HTC One M9 can establish mobile Internet connections via fast LTE Cat. 6 (up to 300 Mbps), that is, of course, if your provider supports those high transfer rates. In theory, the MSM8994 even supports LTE Cat. 9 (up to 450 Mbps). This is not supported by the network carriers yet, but it would have been nice if it was supported by the One M9. It is just a matter of time before it will be available. It is also possible to use HSPA+ (up to 42 Mbps) for Internet connections.

The smartphone also has a WLAN module that supports the IEEE-802.11 standards a/b/g/n/ac in 2.4 as well as 5 GHz networks. The signal quality of the Wi-Fi connection is good, and we still had an average signal pretty far away from the Access Point (Devolo dLAN 1200+ Wi-Fi ac, 2.4 GHz). Websites are still opened quickly, and subjectively there is no difference whether we are 20 meters away from the AP or right next to it.

Besides NFC, the HTC One M9 also supports the current Bluetooth standard 4.1. The Bluetooth signal was very stable during our review and it was no problem to move away from the speaker during music streaming without distortions. The transmission even worked without problems in another room.

GPS Test: indoors
GPS Test: indoors
GPS Test: outdoors
GPS Test: outdoors

The HTC One M9 uses the GPS and Glonass network to locate your position. It also found Chinese BeiDou satellites in our review. The location process is pretty fast and accurate indoors, and the performance is even better outdoors with accuracy down to five meters, which is a good value.

We also checked the accuracy with the navigation device Garmin eTrex 30. The smartphone does have some issues when the track is narrow or if the environment affects the signal quality, but the result is still pretty good and sometimes even better compared to the Garmin.

Garmin eTrex 30
Garmin eTrex 30
Garmin eTrex 30
Garmin eTrex 30
Garmin eTrex 30
Garmin eTrex 30
HTC One M9
HTC One M9
HTC One M9
HTC One M9
HTC One M9
HTC One M9

Telephone & Voice Quality

The voice quality of the HTC One M9 can convince in the review. It was no problem to hear the other person both on mobile networks and landlines. The user of the review unit was always clearly understandable as well. Even the speaker can convince in a quiet environment. Users that make many calls will be happy with the One M9.

Picture with the front camera
Picture with the front camera

Cameras

The UltraPixel camera of the One M8 is now located at the front and is supposed to take good selfies. It has a 4 MP sensor (1688x1520 pixels) and cannot convince us completely. The pictures are decent in good lighting conditions, but you can see a red cast as soon as there is some back-light and the sharpness, which is not great to begin with, will decrease a bit.

The main camera at the back of the HTC One M9 takes pictures with up to 20.1 MP (5376x3752 pixels), which means the number of pixels is five times higher compared to the predecessor. But a high resolution does not always help a lot, which is, unfortunately, also the case for the review unit. The camera is decent, but still noticeably behind other top smartphones. The environment pictures (scene 1) suffer from blurry contours like the roof tiles. The LG G3 is a bit sharper, and the performance of the Lumia 1020 is pretty impressive. The grass is just a green area on the picture from the M9. The review unit cannot quite keep up with the rivals in the second scene, either. The colors are too pale and details look frayed.  The Taiwanese smartphone quickly reveals issues in low-light environments (scene 3) and the pictures are blurry. If you use the flash (scene 4), the colors will look washed-out and unnatural, but the result is still not really sharp.

Videos with the HTC One M9 can be recorded in UltraHD (3840x2160 pixels, 16:9, 30 fps). The results are actually pretty good if you avoid quick movements. Unfortunately, the frame rate cannot be adjusted.

Image Comparison

Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.

Scene 1Scene 2Scene 3Scene 4
click to load images

Accessories

The HTC One M9 is shipped with an in-ear headset, which has a cable that does not knot, a modular power adaptor (7.5 Watts, 5 V, 1.5 A), a small tool to open the slots as well as a data cable.

HTC also offers optional accessories in its shop, including the DotView cover (39 Euros, ~$43) as well as external battery packs, speakers and headsets.

Warranty

HTC grants a warranty of 24 months for its top smartphone, which cannot be extended.

Input Devices & Handling

The main input device of the HTC One M9 is, as usual, the capacitive touchscreen. It supports up to 10 inputs simultaneously and has convenient gliding capabilities. Inputs are executed quickly and reliably, and there are no problems in the peripheral areas, either.

The Android buttons are on-screen, which means they occupy a part of the display. This is not a big problem for the handling, but users will lose screen estate in some applications.

The volume rocker and the power button have a short travel and a firm pressure point. Not only do they look sophisticated, but they also feel this way. The haptics are, unfortunately, very similar, so there can be accidental inputs in the beginning since the three buttons are very close to each other.

The virtual keyboard automatically predicts words and is sophisticated. All important symbols are easy to reach, but the space bar is, unfortunately, a bit narrow in portrait mode. Because of the multiple functions of the keys, the layout can be a bit crowded at first. It is annoying that HTC does not offer a QWERTZ-layout for German users after the initial setup but a QWERTY-layout. This can, however, be changed in the settings.

Portrait mode
Landscape mode

Display

Display comparison: Galaxy S6 Edge, One M9 and LG G Flex 2
Display comparison: Galaxy S6 Edge, One M9 and LG G Flex 2

The HTC One M9 once again has a Super LCD 3 panel with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. This results in an aspect ratio of 16:9 and a pixel density of 441 ppi. Even though the Taiwanese are not following the QHD trend yet, the display is still razor sharp. Aliasing or individual pixels are not visible with the human eye.

The luminance of the screen is pretty high with up to 492 cd/m² and is only beaten by the iPhone 6 (up to 529 cd/m², 88%) and the Sony Xperia Z3 (up to 702 cd/m², 90%). The brightness distribution of the review unit is, however, not very even at 85%, but this is not really a problem in practice. The One M8 (up to 508 cd/m², 93%) was a bit better in this respect.

418
cd/m²
452
cd/m²
458
cd/m²
439
cd/m²
474
cd/m²
492
cd/m²
445
cd/m²
463
cd/m²
479
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
tested with X-Rite i1Pro 2
Maximum: 492 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 457.8 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 85 %
Center on Battery: 474 cd/m²
Contrast: 1185:1 (Black: 0.4 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 6.32 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 6.36 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
58.81% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
Gamma: 2.43
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
HTC One M8
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AB, 16 GB iNAND Flash
Samsung Galaxy S5
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
Huawei Ascend P7
Mali-450 MP4, Kirin 910T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
Nokia Lumia 930
Adreno 330, 800 MSM8974, 32 GB eMMC Flash
Apple iPhone 6
PowerVR GX6450, A8, 128 GB eMMC Flash
Screen
-3%
-1%
-25%
-15%
-36%
2%
Brightness middle
474
474
0%
358
-24%
417
-12%
464
-2%
275
-42%
520
10%
Brightness
458
486
6%
364
-21%
395
-14%
470
3%
278
-39%
511
12%
Brightness Distribution
85
93
9%
82
-4%
89
5%
92
8%
89
5%
88
4%
Black Level *
0.4
0.54
-35%
0.96
-140%
0.92
-130%
0.61
-53%
Contrast
1185
878
-26%
434
-63%
504
-57%
852
-28%
Colorchecker dE 2000 *
6.32
5.86
7%
5.28
16%
5.67
10%
4.18
34%
10.99
-74%
3.92
38%
Greyscale dE 2000 *
6.36
5.2
18%
4.65
27%
5.66
11%
3.71
42%
8.29
-30%
4.33
32%
Gamma
2.43 91%
2.29 96%
2.48 89%
2.53 87%
2.48 89%
2.16 102%
2.46 89%
CCT
8218 79%
7218 90%
7690 85%
7741 84%
6441 101%
6731 97%
7384 88%
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)
58.81
59
0%

* ... smaller is better

The black value of the HTC One M9 was slightly improved compared to the predecessor and now reaches 0.4 cd/m². Black looks pretty rich and deep but cannot compete with AMOLED screens that are used by rivals like the Lumia 930 or the Moto X. The contrast ratio of the review unit is correspondingly high and reaches 1,185:1. A very good result.

Our measurements of the color accuracy, however, are worse compared to the M8. We analyzed the performance with a spectrophotometer and the software CalMAN and noticed some pretty big deviations. Red colors showed a shift towards blue, and the grayscale showed a blue cast as well. The highest DeltaE deviation is 13. The saturation sweeps show that the colors are not rich enough and therefore appear a bit pale. The color-space coverage is also just average with around 59% AdobeRGB 1998, but this won’t be a big problem for many users.

Color Management (target color space sRGB)
Color Management (target color space sRGB)
Saturation Sweeps (target color space sRGB)
Saturation Sweeps (target color space sRGB)
Grayscale (target color space sRGB)
Grayscale (target color space sRGB)
ColorChecker (target color space sRGB)
ColorChecker (target color space sRGB)
ColorChecker (target color space AdobeRGB)
ColorChecker (target color space AdobeRGB)
Color-space coverage (AdobeRGB 1998)
Color-space coverage (AdobeRGB 1998)

The impression of the HTC One M9 outdoors is okay, but we would have expected a better performance considering the high luminance and the good contrast ratio. The picture is pretty dark on bright days and under sunlight in particular, and the glossy surface can affect the visibility of the screen content noticeably.

The surface is pretty glossy.
The surface is pretty glossy.
There are no problems with the visibility on a cloudy day.
There are no problems with the visibility on a cloudy day.

The viewing-angle stability of the HTC One M9 is very good. The picture is easy to see even from very flat angles, only the glossy surface can be a problem. The slight brightness decrease at around 30 °C ironically results in more natural colors.

Viewing-angle stability HTC One M9
Viewing-angle stability HTC One M9

Performance

Basemark ES 3.1 really stresses the One M9
Basemark ES 3.1 really stresses the One M9

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 MSM8994 inside the HTC One M9 is currently one of the fastest SoCs on the market. The octa-core chip uses ARM’s big.LITTLE concept, in this case with a quad-core Cortex-A57 configuration that runs with up to 2.0 GHz and a Cortex-A15 configuration (up to 1.5 GHz) that supports 64-bit. Depending on the required performance, the smartphone uses the 20 nm cores. It is also possible that all cores run simultaneously for a short while under maximum load. Graphics are handled by the Qualcomm Adreno 430. The system is supported by 3 GB of fast LPDDR4 memory.

The system performance is very good, and you only need some patience when you launch complex applications like games. There can also be some small stutters if you stop demanding apps.

The performance of the HTC One M9 is convincing in the benchmarks. The processor is unbeaten in the Geekbench 3 multi-core test and 11% faster than the Snapdragon 805 inside the Google Nexus 6. Only the iPhone 6, which has a very good per-MHz performance, manages better single-core results.

The Adreno 430 can set new records in the graphics benchmark and reaches 24 fps in the GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan Offscreen test, which is 21% more than the Nexus 6 (Adreno 420) and 29% faster than the iPhone (PowerVR GX6450). Only the 3DMark Unlimited result is worse than expected, and the Nexus 6 is much better in this test. This is, however, not the fault of the GPU, but the Physics results falls behind the rivals. The M9 can probably not use all cores, but just one of the quad-cores. The quad-cores of the rivals have a higher clock, so their results are better.

Geekbench 3
32 Bit Single-Core Score (sort by value)
HTC One M9
1163 Points
HTC One M8
957 Points -18%
Samsung Galaxy S5
941 Points -19%
LG G3
941 Points -19%
Sony Xperia Z3
979 Points -16%
Google Nexus 6
1043 Points -10%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
1003 Points -14%
Huawei Ascend P7
599 Points -48%
Apple iPhone 6
1619 Points +39%
OnePlus One
878 Points -25%
32 Bit Multi-Core Score (sort by value)
HTC One M9
3499 Points
HTC One M8
2785 Points -20%
Samsung Galaxy S5
2885 Points -18%
LG G3
2323 Points -34%
Sony Xperia Z3
2708 Points -23%
Google Nexus 6
3141 Points -10%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
3005 Points -14%
Huawei Ascend P7
1796 Points -49%
Apple iPhone 6
2889 Points -17%
OnePlus One
2095 Points -40%
Linpack Android / IOS
Single Thread (sort by value)
HTC One M9
578 MFLOPS
HTC One M8
337.5 MFLOPS -42%
Samsung Galaxy S5
355 MFLOPS -39%
LG G3
281.3 MFLOPS -51%
Sony Xperia Z3
375 MFLOPS -35%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
388.1 MFLOPS -33%
Huawei Ascend P7
83.2 MFLOPS -86%
Apple iPhone 6
768 MFLOPS +33%
Nokia Lumia 930
232.5 MFLOPS -60%
OnePlus One
366.1 MFLOPS -37%
Multi Thread (sort by value)
HTC One M9
685 MFLOPS
HTC One M8
576 MFLOPS -16%
Samsung Galaxy S5
678 MFLOPS -1%
LG G3
609 MFLOPS -11%
Sony Xperia Z3
700 MFLOPS +2%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
953 MFLOPS +39%
Huawei Ascend P7
254 MFLOPS -63%
Apple iPhone 6
1439 MFLOPS +110%
Nokia Lumia 930
930 MFLOPS +36%
OnePlus One
694 MFLOPS +1%
Smartbench 2012
Productivity Index (sort by value)
HTC One M9
5738 points
HTC One M8
5021 points -12%
Samsung Galaxy S5
9054 points +58%
LG G3
8377 points +46%
Google Nexus 6
7468 points +30%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
8386 points +46%
Huawei Ascend P7
6468 points +13%
OnePlus One
7028 points +22%
Gaming Index (sort by value)
HTC One M9
4454 points
HTC One M8
3935 points -12%
Samsung Galaxy S5
4432 points 0%
LG G3
3984 points -11%
Google Nexus 6
2108 points -53%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
4496 points +1%
Huawei Ascend P7
2942 points -34%
OnePlus One
4129 points -7%
PCMark for Android - Work performance score (sort by value)
HTC One M9
4193 Points
LG G3
3731 (3662min - 3829max) Points -11%
LG G3
3308 Points -21%
OnePlus One
3571 Points -15%
AnTuTu v5 - Total Score (sort by value)
HTC One M9
55374 Points
LG G3
36792 Points -34%
Sony Xperia Z3
42125 Points -24%
Google Nexus 6
51812 Points -6%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
43985 Points -21%
Apple iPhone 6
49093 Points -11%
OnePlus One
47123 Points -15%
ANDEBench PRO
Device Score (sort by value)
HTC One M9
7158 Points
LG G3
7344 Points +3%
OnePlus One
7169 Points 0%
CoreMark-PRO/HPC (Base) (sort by value)
HTC One M9
2296 Points
LG G3
2539 Points +11%
OnePlus One
2464 Points +7%
Memory Bandwidth (sort by value)
HTC One M9
7609 MB/s
LG G3
5031 MB/s -34%
OnePlus One
5485 MB/s -28%
Memory Latency (sort by value)
HTC One M9
2302 KOps/s
LG G3
6940 KOps/s +201%
OnePlus One
6738 KOps/s +193%
Storage (sort by value)
HTC One M9
5862 KB/s
LG G3
7714 KB/s +32%
OnePlus One
7193 KB/s +23%
Platform (sort by value)
HTC One M9
154.1 Points
LG G3
149.3 Points -3%
OnePlus One
140.6 Points -9%
3D (sort by value)
HTC One M9
32.88 fps
LG G3
24.7 fps -25%
OnePlus One
24.6 fps -25%
3DMark
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Score (sort by value)
HTC One M9
22783 (22783min - 23171max) Points
HTC One M8
13856 Points -39%
Samsung Galaxy S5
18367 Points -19%
LG G3
15911 Points -30%
Sony Xperia Z3
17882 Points -22%
Google Nexus 6
23368 Points +3%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
19619 Points -14%
Huawei Ascend P7
7433 Points -67%
Apple iPhone 6
16985 Points -25%
OnePlus One
16692 Points -27%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics Score (sort by value)
HTC One M9
34429 (34429min - 34485max) Points
HTC One M8
15928 Points -54%
Samsung Galaxy S5
19530 Points -43%
LG G3
17029 Points -51%
Sony Xperia Z3
19606 Points -43%
Google Nexus 6
25480 Points -26%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
20806 Points -40%
Huawei Ascend P7
6599 Points -81%
Apple iPhone 6
22509 Points -35%
OnePlus One
18074 Points -48%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Physics (sort by value)
HTC One M9
10432 (10432min - 10786max) Points
HTC One M8
9521 Points -9%
Samsung Galaxy S5
15198 Points +46%
LG G3
12939 Points +24%
Sony Xperia Z3
13674 Points +31%
Google Nexus 6
18113 Points +74%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
16354 Points +57%
Huawei Ascend P7
13330 Points +28%
Apple iPhone 6
9137 Points -12%
OnePlus One
13167 Points +26%
GFXBench 3.0
on screen Manhattan Onscreen OGL (sort by value)
HTC One M9
24 fps
HTC One M8
11.2 fps -53%
Samsung Galaxy S5
11.7 fps -51%
LG G3
7.3 fps -70%
Sony Xperia Z3
12.6 fps -47%
Google Nexus 6
12 fps -50%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
12.6 fps -47%
Apple iPhone 6
29.8 fps +24%
OnePlus One
12 fps -50%
1920x1080 1080p Manhattan Offscreen (sort by value)
HTC One M9
23 fps
HTC One M8
10.5 fps -54%
Samsung Galaxy S5
11.8 fps -49%
LG G3
11.3 fps -51%
Sony Xperia Z3
11.8 fps -49%
Google Nexus 6
19 fps -17%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
11 fps -52%
Apple iPhone 6
17.8 fps -23%
OnePlus One
12 fps -48%
GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7
T-Rex Onscreen (sort by value)
HTC One M9
50 fps
HTC One M8
30.2 fps -40%
Samsung Galaxy S5
27.8 fps -44%
LG G3
20.2 fps -60%
Sony Xperia Z3
29.4 fps -41%
Google Nexus 6
28 fps -44%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
29.3 fps -41%
Huawei Ascend P7
12.4 fps -75%
Apple iPhone 6
51.9 fps +4%
Nokia Lumia 930
20 fps -60%
OnePlus One
29 fps -42%
1920x1080 T-Rex Offscreen (sort by value)
HTC One M9
49 fps
HTC One M8
28.1 fps -43%
Samsung Galaxy S5
27.7 fps -43%
LG G3
26.7 fps -46%
Sony Xperia Z3
27.5 fps -44%
Google Nexus 6
39 fps -20%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
27.2 fps -44%
Huawei Ascend P7
12.3 fps -75%
Apple iPhone 6
42.6 fps -13%
Nokia Lumia 930
15 fps -69%
OnePlus One
28 fps -43%
Basemark X 1.1
Medium Quality (sort by value)
HTC One M9
27968 Points
HTC One M8
17913 Points -36%
Samsung Galaxy S5
23999 Points -14%
LG G3
23234 Points -17%
Sony Xperia Z3
24637 Points -12%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
25206 Points -10%
Huawei Ascend P7
11110 Points -60%
Nokia Lumia 930
19987 Points -29%
OnePlus One
23226 Points -17%
High Quality (sort by value)
HTC One M9
19122 Points
HTC One M8
10191 Points -47%
Samsung Galaxy S5
11990 Points -37%
LG G3
11499 Points -40%
Sony Xperia Z3
12603 Points -34%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
12141 Points -37%
Huawei Ascend P7
4142 Points -78%
OnePlus One
12411 Points -35%
BaseMark OS II
Overall (sort by value)
HTC One M9
1410 Points
LG G3
1080 Points -23%
Google Nexus 6
995 Points -29%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
1230 Points -13%
Apple iPhone 6
1374 Points -3%
Nokia Lumia 930
1085 Points -23%
OnePlus One
1131 Points -20%
System (sort by value)
HTC One M9
1672 Points
LG G3
1387 Points -17%
Google Nexus 6
1604 Points -4%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
1540 Points -8%
Apple iPhone 6
2042 Points +22%
Nokia Lumia 930
1296 Points -22%
OnePlus One
1768 Points +6%
Memory (sort by value)
HTC One M9
933 Points
LG G3
610 Points -35%
Google Nexus 6
421 Points -55%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
619 Points -34%
Apple iPhone 6
709 Points -24%
Nokia Lumia 930
1500 Points +61%
OnePlus One
587 Points -37%
Graphics (sort by value)
HTC One M9
3210 Points
LG G3
2530 Points -21%
Google Nexus 6
2130 Points -34%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
2731 Points -15%
Apple iPhone 6
2264 Points -29%
Nokia Lumia 930
1233 Points -62%
OnePlus One
2382 Points -26%
Web (sort by value)
HTC One M9
789 Points
LG G3
635 Points -20%
Google Nexus 6
682 Points -14%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
880 Points +12%
Apple iPhone 6
1086 Points +38%
Nokia Lumia 930
579 Points -27%
OnePlus One
661 Points -16%

Legend

 
HTC One M9 Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 MSM8994, Qualcomm Adreno 430, 32 GB eMMC Flash
 
HTC One M8 Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AB, Qualcomm Adreno 330, 16 GB iNAND Flash
 
Samsung Galaxy S5 Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC, Qualcomm Adreno 330, 16 GB eMMC Flash
 
LG G3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC, Qualcomm Adreno 330, 16 GB eMMC Flash
 
Sony Xperia Z3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC, Qualcomm Adreno 330, 16 GB eMMC Flash
 
Google Nexus 6 Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 APQ8084, Qualcomm Adreno 420, 32 GB eMMC Flash
 
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014 Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC, Qualcomm Adreno 330, 16 GB eMMC Flash
 
Huawei Ascend P7 HiSilicon Kirin 910T, ARM Mali-450 MP4, 16 GB eMMC Flash
 
Apple iPhone 6 Apple A8, PowerVR GX6450, 128 GB eMMC Flash
 
Nokia Lumia 930 Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974, Qualcomm Adreno 330, 32 GB eMMC Flash
 
OnePlus One Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC, Qualcomm Adreno 330, 64 GB eMMC Flash

The browser performance of the HTC One M9 is very good, which is confirmed by the benchmark results, even though it cannot compete with the excellent performance of the iPhone. Websites are quickly opened and scrolling through websites is smooth. There are only some small stutters on complex websites.

Octane V2 - Total Score (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
6493 Points
HTC One M8
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AB, 16 GB iNAND Flash
3131 Points -52%
Samsung Galaxy S5
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
3875 Points -40%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
4345 Points -33%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
3892 Points -40%
Sony Xperia Z3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
5339 Points -18%
Google Nexus 6
Adreno 420, 805 APQ8084, 32 GB eMMC Flash
5271 Points -19%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
5403 Points -17%
Huawei Ascend P7
Mali-450 MP4, Kirin 910T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
2775 Points -57%
Apple iPhone 6
PowerVR GX6450, A8, 128 GB eMMC Flash
7478 Points +15%
Nokia Lumia 930
Adreno 330, 800 MSM8974, 32 GB eMMC Flash
2737 Points -58%
Sunspider - 1.0 Total Score (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
840 ms *
HTC One M8
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AB, 16 GB iNAND Flash
594 ms * +29%
Samsung Galaxy S5
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
408.7 ms * +51%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
900 ms * -7%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
629 ms * +25%
Sony Xperia Z3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
828 ms * +1%
Google Nexus 6
Adreno 420, 805 APQ8084, 32 GB eMMC Flash
784 ms * +7%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
777 ms * +7%
Huawei Ascend P7
Mali-450 MP4, Kirin 910T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1043 ms * -24%
Apple iPhone 6
PowerVR GX6450, A8, 128 GB eMMC Flash
340 ms * +60%
Nokia Lumia 930
Adreno 330, 800 MSM8974, 32 GB eMMC Flash
534 ms * +36%
OnePlus One
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 64 GB eMMC Flash
2180 ms * -160%
WebXPRT 2013
Overall (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
287 Points
HTC One M8
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AB, 16 GB iNAND Flash
271 Points -6%
Samsung Galaxy S5
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
237 Points -17%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
314 Points +9%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
313 Points +9%
Sony Xperia Z3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
345 Points +20%
Google Nexus 6
Adreno 420, 805 APQ8084, 32 GB eMMC Flash
340 Points +18%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
341 Points +19%
Huawei Ascend P7
Mali-450 MP4, Kirin 910T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
252 Points -12%
Apple iPhone 6
PowerVR GX6450, A8, 128 GB eMMC Flash
570 Points +99%
Nokia Lumia 930
Adreno 330, 800 MSM8974, 32 GB eMMC Flash
300 Points +5%
OnePlus One
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 64 GB eMMC Flash
273 Points -5%
Photo Effects (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
1585 ms *
HTC One M8
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AB, 16 GB iNAND Flash
949 ms * +40%
Samsung Galaxy S5
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
2569 ms * -62%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1202 ms * +24%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1107 ms * +30%
Sony Xperia Z3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
875 ms * +45%
Google Nexus 6
Adreno 420, 805 APQ8084, 32 GB eMMC Flash
898 ms * +43%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
989 ms * +38%
Huawei Ascend P7
Mali-450 MP4, Kirin 910T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
821 ms * +48%
Apple iPhone 6
PowerVR GX6450, A8, 128 GB eMMC Flash
965 ms * +39%
Nokia Lumia 930
Adreno 330, 800 MSM8974, 32 GB eMMC Flash
1004 ms * +37%
OnePlus One
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 64 GB eMMC Flash
946 ms * +40%
Face Detection (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
2237 ms *
HTC One M8
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AB, 16 GB iNAND Flash
4534 ms * -103%
Samsung Galaxy S5
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
2774 ms * -24%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
2277 ms * -2%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1785 ms * +20%
Sony Xperia Z3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
7831 ms * -250%
Google Nexus 6
Adreno 420, 805 APQ8084, 32 GB eMMC Flash
1736 ms * +22%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1772 ms * +21%
Huawei Ascend P7
Mali-450 MP4, Kirin 910T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
4340 ms * -94%
Apple iPhone 6
PowerVR GX6450, A8, 128 GB eMMC Flash
1685 ms * +25%
Nokia Lumia 930
Adreno 330, 800 MSM8974, 32 GB eMMC Flash
2515 ms * -12%
OnePlus One
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 64 GB eMMC Flash
2124 ms * +5%
Stocks Dashboard (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
1088 ms *
HTC One M8
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AB, 16 GB iNAND Flash
952 ms * +12%
Samsung Galaxy S5
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1017 ms * +7%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1183 ms * -9%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1078 ms * +1%
Sony Xperia Z3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1103 ms * -1%
Google Nexus 6
Adreno 420, 805 APQ8084, 32 GB eMMC Flash
1231 ms * -13%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1122 ms * -3%
Huawei Ascend P7
Mali-450 MP4, Kirin 910T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1510 ms * -39%
Apple iPhone 6
PowerVR GX6450, A8, 128 GB eMMC Flash
348 ms * +68%
Nokia Lumia 930
Adreno 330, 800 MSM8974, 32 GB eMMC Flash
1189 ms * -9%
OnePlus One
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 64 GB eMMC Flash
1488 ms * -37%
Offline Notes (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
1132 ms *
HTC One M8
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AB, 16 GB iNAND Flash
1355 ms * -20%
Samsung Galaxy S5
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1313 ms * -16%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1227 ms * -8%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1124 ms * +1%
Sony Xperia Z3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1192 ms * -5%
Google Nexus 6
Adreno 420, 805 APQ8084, 32 GB eMMC Flash
1158 ms * -2%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1123 ms * +1%
Huawei Ascend P7
Mali-450 MP4, Kirin 910T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1394 ms * -23%
Apple iPhone 6
PowerVR GX6450, A8, 128 GB eMMC Flash
499.1 ms * +56%
Nokia Lumia 930
Adreno 330, 800 MSM8974, 32 GB eMMC Flash
1226 ms * -8%
OnePlus One
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 64 GB eMMC Flash
1799 ms * -59%
Browsermark - 2.1 (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
1729 points
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1370 points -21%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1343 points -22%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1576 points -9%
Apple iPhone 6
PowerVR GX6450, A8, 128 GB eMMC Flash
3297 points +91%
Nokia Lumia 930
Adreno 330, 800 MSM8974, 32 GB eMMC Flash
829 points -52%
OnePlus One
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 64 GB eMMC Flash
1368 points -21%
Peacekeeper - --- (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
1043 Points
HTC One M8
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AB, 16 GB iNAND Flash
1164 Points +12%
Samsung Galaxy S5
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
712 Points -32%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1097 Points +5%
Sony Xperia Z3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
811 Points -22%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
881 Points -16%
Huawei Ascend P7
Mali-450 MP4, Kirin 910T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
794 Points -24%
Apple iPhone 6
PowerVR GX6450, A8, 128 GB eMMC Flash
2567 Points +146%
Nokia Lumia 930
Adreno 330, 800 MSM8974, 32 GB eMMC Flash
526 Points -50%
OnePlus One
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 64 GB eMMC Flash
760 Points -27%
Vellamo 3.x - Browser (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
3174 Points
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
2945 Points -7%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
2762 Points -13%
Sony Xperia Z3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
2871 Points -10%
Google Nexus 6
Adreno 420, 805 APQ8084, 32 GB eMMC Flash
3740 Points +18%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
3259 Points +3%
OnePlus One
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 64 GB eMMC Flash
2683 Points -15%
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
6508 ms *
HTC One M8
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AB, 16 GB iNAND Flash
8990 ms * -38%
Samsung Galaxy S5
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
6302 ms * +3%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
7280 ms * -12%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
7163 ms * -10%
Sony Xperia Z3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
6502 ms * -0%
Google Nexus 6
Adreno 420, 805 APQ8084, 32 GB eMMC Flash
6124 ms * +6%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
6243 ms * +4%
Huawei Ascend P7
Mali-450 MP4, Kirin 910T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
16135 ms * -148%
Apple iPhone 6
PowerVR GX6450, A8, 128 GB eMMC Flash
4597 ms * +29%
Nokia Lumia 930
Adreno 330, 800 MSM8974, 32 GB eMMC Flash
11108 ms * -71%
OnePlus One
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 64 GB eMMC Flash
7883 ms * -21%
Google V8 Ver. 7 - Google V8 Ver. 7 Score (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
6440 Points
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
4976 Points -23%
Google Nexus 6
Adreno 420, 805 APQ8084, 32 GB eMMC Flash
6559 Points +2%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
6318 Points -2%
Apple iPhone 6
PowerVR GX6450, A8, 128 GB eMMC Flash
8384 Points +30%
OnePlus One
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 64 GB eMMC Flash
4681 Points -27%

* ... smaller is better

The HTC One M9 has 32 GB eMMC flash storage and the user can use around 21 GB after the initial start. The rest is occupied by the system and preloaded apps. If this is not enough you can expand the storage with a microSD card (up to 256 GB). Bigger SDXC cards are currently not available and they are also pretty expensive. App2SD is supported, so applications can also be transferred to the optional storage and used from there.

The performance of the flash storage inside the HTC One M9 is also very good and the overall performance is fast. Only some smartphone rivals are faster in some areas, but the review unit is always on the podium. It is even the fastest Android device in Basemark OS II and PassMark.

AndroBench 3-5
Sequential Read 256KB (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
235.1 MB/s
HTC One M8
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AB, 16 GB iNAND Flash
88.4 MB/s -62%
Samsung Galaxy S5
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
83.5 MB/s -64%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
167.5 MB/s -29%
Sony Xperia Z3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
149 MB/s -37%
Google Nexus 6
Adreno 420, 805 APQ8084, 32 GB eMMC Flash
25.78 MB/s -89%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
140.7 MB/s -40%
Huawei Ascend P7
Mali-450 MP4, Kirin 910T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
33.32 MB/s -86%
OnePlus One
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 64 GB eMMC Flash
223.6 MB/s -5%
Sequential Write 256KB (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
123.8 MB/s
HTC One M8
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AB, 16 GB iNAND Flash
19.51 MB/s -84%
Samsung Galaxy S5
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
19.05 MB/s -85%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
23.83 MB/s -81%
Sony Xperia Z3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
18 MB/s -85%
Google Nexus 6
Adreno 420, 805 APQ8084, 32 GB eMMC Flash
18.46 MB/s -85%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
27.42 MB/s -78%
Huawei Ascend P7
Mali-450 MP4, Kirin 910T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
10.74 MB/s -91%
OnePlus One
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 64 GB eMMC Flash
159.7 MB/s +29%
Random Read 4KB (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
20.66 MB/s
HTC One M8
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AB, 16 GB iNAND Flash
10.53 MB/s -49%
Samsung Galaxy S5
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
8.5 MB/s -59%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
20.98 MB/s +2%
Sony Xperia Z3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
15 MB/s -27%
Google Nexus 6
Adreno 420, 805 APQ8084, 32 GB eMMC Flash
7.85 MB/s -62%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
13.49 MB/s -35%
Huawei Ascend P7
Mali-450 MP4, Kirin 910T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
9.94 MB/s -52%
OnePlus One
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 64 GB eMMC Flash
18.27 MB/s -12%
Random Write 4KB (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
13.91 MB/s
HTC One M8
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AB, 16 GB iNAND Flash
0.88 MB/s -94%
Samsung Galaxy S5
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1 MB/s -93%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1.44 MB/s -90%
Sony Xperia Z3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
2 MB/s -86%
Google Nexus 6
Adreno 420, 805 APQ8084, 32 GB eMMC Flash
1.49 MB/s -89%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
2.43 MB/s -83%
Huawei Ascend P7
Mali-450 MP4, Kirin 910T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1.13 MB/s -92%
OnePlus One
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 64 GB eMMC Flash
10.42 MB/s -25%
BaseMark OS II - Memory (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
933 Points
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
610 Points -35%
Google Nexus 6
Adreno 420, 805 APQ8084, 32 GB eMMC Flash
421 Points -55%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
619 Points -34%
Apple iPhone 6
PowerVR GX6450, A8, 128 GB eMMC Flash
709 Points -24%
Nokia Lumia 930
Adreno 330, 800 MSM8974, 32 GB eMMC Flash
1500 Points +61%
OnePlus One
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 64 GB eMMC Flash
587 Points -37%
PassMark PerformanceTest Mobile V1
Disk Tests (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
42249 Points
HTC One M8
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AB, 16 GB iNAND Flash
17200 Points -59%
Samsung Galaxy S5
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
16759 Points -60%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
16851 Points -60%
Sony Xperia Z3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
13660 Points -68%
Google Nexus 6
Adreno 420, 805 APQ8084, 32 GB eMMC Flash
19076 Points -55%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
28853 Points -32%
Huawei Ascend P7
Mali-450 MP4, Kirin 910T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
6315 Points -85%
Apple iPhone 6
PowerVR GX6450, A8, 128 GB eMMC Flash
24715 Points -42%
Memory Tests (sort by value)
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
6248 Points
HTC One M8
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AB, 16 GB iNAND Flash
4438 Points -29%
Samsung Galaxy S5
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
3921 Points -37%
LG G3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
4181 Points -33%
Sony Xperia Z3
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
4179 Points -33%
Google Nexus 6
Adreno 420, 805 APQ8084, 32 GB eMMC Flash
3530 Points -44%
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
4484 Points -28%
Huawei Ascend P7
Mali-450 MP4, Kirin 910T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
1429 Points -77%
Apple iPhone 6
PowerVR GX6450, A8, 128 GB eMMC Flash
5749 Points -8%

Games

Gaming is a strength of the HTC One M9. This is not only because of the high-end SoC from Qualcomm, which provides a great performance in combination with the Adreno 430, but also the great speakers that create a first-class sound experience. The device also supports all current graphics interfaces, so every title can be enjoyed without stutters and in the highest settings.

The sensors work very well and do not affect the gaming experience if you want to use movement controls. The touchscreen provides good gliding capabilities and executes inputs quickly and precisely.

Asphalt 8
Asphalt 8
Worms 3
Worms 3

Emissions

Temperature

The temperature development was already a big topic ahead of the review. One reason is the temperature development of the Snapdragon 810 that caused problems for the manufacturer, which is why Samsung supposedly used its own SoCs for the new S6 series (we reported). The other problem is the insane surface temperatures of the review unit under sustained load that even surpass 50 °C. We determined the latter with GFXBench 3.0 (up to 50.0 °C) and Basemark ES 3.1 (up to 51.1 °C), but HTC reacted quickly and already released an update that improves this issue. The new measurement results are up to 34.0 °C while idling and up to 38.4 °C under sustained load, which is simulated by the app Stability Test.

The situation is different for the temperatures of the SoC. We could not determine any problems with the heat development or negative effects on the performance of the smartphone when we only stressed the CPU. This changes when we look at the GPU: We can see a performance drop of up to 40% (GFXBench 3.0) in the battery tests of GFXBench 3.0 and 3.1 and even more than 50% in the newer version of the graphics benchmark. This means that there can be stutters in a game that is based on OpenGL ES 2.0, which is simulated by the onscreen T-Rex test of the benchmark. The smartphone does reach an excellent result of 50 fps in this test, but the frame rates can drop to 30 fps in practice. This is still a good value, but you would be able to see small delays.

GFXBench 3.0
GFXBench 3.1
GFXBench 3.1
Max. Load
 34.3 °C
94 F
35.5 °C
96 F
38.2 °C
101 F
 
 34.4 °C
94 F
35.7 °C
96 F
38.4 °C
101 F
 
 34.4 °C
94 F
35.3 °C
96 F
37.6 °C
100 F
 
Maximum: 38.4 °C = 101 F
Average: 36 °C = 97 F
35.2 °C
95 F
35.7 °C
96 F
35.7 °C
96 F
35.4 °C
96 F
36.1 °C
97 F
35.7 °C
96 F
35.4 °C
96 F
35.7 °C
96 F
35.6 °C
96 F
Maximum: 36.1 °C = 97 F
Average: 35.6 °C = 96 F
Power Supply (max.)  31.4 °C = 89 F | Room Temperature 21.9 °C = 71 F | Voltcraft IR-260
(±) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 36 °C / 97 F, compared to the average of 32.7 °C / 91 F for the devices in the class Smartphone.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 38.4 °C / 101 F, compared to the average of 35 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 56 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 36.1 °C / 97 F, compared to the average of 33.8 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 30.8 °C / 87 F, compared to the device average of 32.7 °C / 91 F.

Speakers

The HTC One M9 has two stereo speakers that surround the display when you use it in landscape mode. Besides the familiar BoomSound, they now also support Dolby Audio. Similar to the predecessor, the quality can once again convince us. The speakers create a surprisingly good sound for their size. The bass is a bit thin, but perceptible, and the medium tones leave a good impression as well. Even the high tones do not create distortions at the highest volume, so you generally get a harmonious sound experience. Users of the HTC One M9 do not necessarily need an external speaker if you occasionally want to listen to music or watch a video.

Energy Management

Power Consumption

The power consumption of the HTC One M9 is surprisingly high if you consider that Qualcomm advertises better energy efficiency for its new SoC. The values are still higher compared to the predecessor. This is not only caused by the more powerful hardware, because the values are also comparatively high while idling with up to 2.4 Watts. Both the Moto X (idle up to 1.2 Watts) and the OnePlus One (idle up to 1.9 Watts) are more frugal, even though they have bigger screens. Only the LG G3 (up to 9.1 Watts) and the Nexus 6 (up to 10.9 Watts) consumed more power under load.

Although the battery capacity was slightly increased, the measurements do not suggest great results for our battery runtime tests. The HTC One M9 does not support Quick Charge or wireless charging, either.

Power Consumption
Off / Standbydarklight 0 / 0.1 Watt
Idledarkmidlight 1.1 / 2 / 2.4 Watt
Load midlight 7.2 / 7.5 Watt
 color bar
Key: min: dark, med: mid, max: light        Voltcraft VC 870
Currently we use the Metrahit Energy, a professional single phase power quality and energy measurement digital multimeter, for our measurements. Find out more about it here. All of our test methods can be found here.

Battery Runtime

The battery of the HTC One M9 now has a capacity of 2,840 mAh, which is pretty generous for a 5-inch smartphone, but the measured runtimes are still pretty mediocre in comparison: The results in all scenarios are pretty average. It is surprising that almost all values were improved compared to the M8, and the minimum runtime of the M9 is even comparatively good. Still, we would have expected more from a high-end smartphone. If you use your smartphone extensively during the day, you should carry an external battery with you since the battery charge can be dangerously low in the afternoon.

The best comparability is provided by the tests with an adjusted display brightness of 150 cd/m². Only the runtime of the iPhone 6 is shorter in the WLAN test, but the OnePlus One and the Lumia 930 surpass the review unit significantly. The difference is even bigger in the new WLAN test (v 1.3), which does not use Flash and opens a website every 30 seconds.

The HTC One M9 works really well as a multimedia device thanks to the high-resolution panel and the great speakers, so we also test the stamina during the playback of a Netflix HD stream. We once again use an adjusted panel brightness of 150 cd/m² and deactivate all communication modules except for the required network connection. It does not matter if you stream video via WLAN (343 minutes) or LTE (350 minutes), the runtimes are basically identical and ensure good entertainment even on longer journeys.

Battery Runtime
Idle (without WLAN, min brightness)
13h 25min
WiFi Surfing
9h 33min
WiFi Websurfing
5h 48min
Big Buck Bunny H.264 1080p
7h 01min
Load (maximum brightness)
3h 56min
HTC One M9
Adreno 430, 810 MSM8994, 32 GB eMMC Flash
HTC One M8
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AB, 16 GB iNAND Flash
Samsung Galaxy S5
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
OnePlus One
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 64 GB eMMC Flash
Motorola Moto X 2. Gen 2014
Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash
Nokia Lumia 930
Adreno 330, 800 MSM8974, 32 GB eMMC Flash
Apple iPhone 6
PowerVR GX6450, A8, 128 GB eMMC Flash
Battery Runtime
-20%
39%
90%
14%
40%
14%
Reader / Idle
805
863
7%
1695
111%
1568
95%
1078
34%
1387
72%
1369
70%
H.264
421
385
-9%
556
32%
893
112%
604
43%
595
41%
WiFi
573
453
-21%
613
7%
1126
97%
617
8%
1002
75%
530
-8%
WiFi v1.3
348
963
177%
Load
236
102
-57%
253
7%
160
-32%
165
-30%
175
-26%
128
-46%

Pros

+ Great design and build quality
+ Great speakers
+ IPX3
+ Expandable storage
+ Good connectivity
+ High range of the Bluetooth connection
+ Good GPS
+ Fast storage
+ Bright and high-contrast display
+ Fast SoC ...

Cons

- ... but the GPU loses performance under load
- Comparatively bad camera
- Meager battery runtimes
- No quick-charge or wireless charging
- QWERTY keyboard even in the German layout
- Pricing

Verdict

In review: HTC One M9. Test model courtesy of HTC Germany
In review: HTC One M9. Test model courtesy of HTC Germany

The HTC One M9, unfortunately, lacks any real innovations, but the Taiwanese manufacturer can improve some aspects, so the M9 is a very good smartphone. The high-resolution SLCD3 panel can convince with the high luminance and the good contrast ratio. The device is once again equipped with really good speakers and you won’t find a better solution in any other smartphone.

HTC’s flagship device is a sophisticated aluminum smartphone with current components, but without big innovations. The battery runtimes could be better as well.

The new main camera of the One M9 is certainly a step in the right direction, but there is still a lot of work for HTC compared to the LG G3Xperia Z3iPhone 6 or Lumia 930. Maybe there will be a software update that improves the quality of the camera, but the performance right now is a bit weak for a premium product. Another problem is the mediocre battery runtimes.

The connectivity is another positive aspect of the review unit. There are hardly any standards that are not supported by the One M9. Fast LTE Cat. 6 is available, just like the possibility to transfer files wirelessly or via cable to external devices. The HTC One M9 is also a pretty good-looking phone. If the launch price of 749 Euros (~$839) is too high for you, we can recommend the predecessor, which is around 250 Euros (~$280) cheaper.

HTC One M9 - 04/07/2015 v4(old)
Daniel Schmidt

Chassis
92%
Keyboard
71 / 75 → 95%
Pointing Device
94%
Connectivity
50 / 60 → 83%
Weight
92%
Battery
91%
Display
85%
Games Performance
69 / 63 → 100%
Application Performance
55 / 70 → 79%
Temperature
89%
Noise
100%
Audio
85 / 91 → 93%
Camera
74%
Average
81%
88%
Smartphone - Weighted Average

Pricecompare

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Daniel Schmidt, 2015-05-10 (Update: 2018-05-15)